The United Nations (UN) has raised deep concerns over Saturday’s deportation of 82 Venezuelan nationals from T&T, among them asylum seekers, saying they could not verify whether it was a “voluntary repatriation” process as claimed by the Ministry of National Security.

It is also of the belief, like many locals and Venezuelan nationals here in T&T, that the T&T Government has failed the deportees and disrespected their human rights people seeking asylum and refugee status from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s regime.

In a release yesterday, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Richard Blewitt said the body was concerned for the welfare of these people.

“We are in contact with the appropriate authorities in Port-of-Spain to ensure that any person in need of protection will get it without fail,” Blewitt said.

On Saturday, a Venezuelan military aircraft took 82 Venezuelan nationals – 53 men and 29 women - back home from the Piarco International Airport. Just under 40 of those 82 Venezuelans were said to have applied for asylum and refugee status in T&T, but sources said the certificates they had in their possession were allegedly disregarded by T&T Immigration officers.

In a release on Saturday, the Ministry of National Security said the Venezuelan nationals, who were being kept at the Immigration Detention Centre, were voluntarily repatriated with the assistance of the Ambassador of Venezuela to T&T, Coromoto Godoy.

Yesterday, however, Blewitt said this statement “could not be verified independently by UN observers.” He said the UN and its local partners have encouraged the prompt adoption of national legislation on refugee issues, and work together to support the T&T Government in its efforts to develop an efficient and secure asylum system.

Also addressing the issue yesterday, Ministry for Migrants and Refugees Coordinator at the Living Water Community (LWC), Rochelle Nakhid, said for almost 30 years the LWC has joyfully served asylum-seekers and refugees who have come to T&T seeking asylum from persecution.

Saying they had acted in partnership with the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) and the T&T Government, Nakhid said, “This relationship comprises defined procedures that create a legitimate expectation of adherence to same. It is necessary to remember that seeking asylum is a humanitarian and a non-political act and one which should not be considered as unfriendly between states.”

She emphasised that non-refoulement remains a core principle of protection enshrined in refugee law and is also part of customary international law.

“It means that persons are not to be returned to where their life would be in danger. In the absence of legislation in T&T which affords other rights such as the right to work, to have identity documents and guaranteed access to social services, this protection from return appears to be at risk if parties do not acknowledge that the majority of Venezuelans are in need of protection as advocated by the UNHCR and as we witness on a daily basis,” Nakhid said.

She said the food and medicine shortages and increasing criminal activity and general instability in Venezuela have forced large numbers of them to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, including T&T.

“Many Venezuelans face a lack of documentation, sexual and gender-based violence and various forms of exploitation, including by criminal gangs. Women are at high risk of trafficking and this phenomenon is quickly worsening as criminals prey on their lack of legal status,” Nakhid said.

“True to our Catholic identity, we have heeded the call to love the stranger as ourselves and to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees.”

Attempts to reach National Security Minister Edmund Dillon on the issue yesterday were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls to his cellphone.

MORE INFO

In March 2018, the UN Refugee Agency published a Guidance note for states on how to treat with the outflow of Venezuelans in light of rapidly deteriorating political and socio-economic conditions.

This note advises that states apply a protection-oriented response in dealing with Venezuelans in a way that reflects an understanding of protection as a humanitarian and non-political act, and as an act of solidarity with the people of Venezuela. It asks that states find ways to facilitate access to their territory, award official documentation, grant access to basic rights and very importantly, apply a non-return principle to Venezuela, given that the majority of cases would in fact be considered as refugees under the 1984 Cartagena Declaration.

A Venezuelan woman seeking asylum here in T&T says she fears for the lives of the 82 people who were repatriated on Saturday.

The woman, a 46-year-old attorney, said many of them, especially those who had already started the process for asylum and refugee status, could face possible lawsuits and even jail time by the Maduro administration.

“Very few of them might be freed but promised to be dealt with if they have to go back a second time to get them. But jail is bad for them there ... I feel very bad for them. It is very dangerous there,” the woman, who did not want to be identified for safety reasons, said.

She said in 2016 she was forced to flee from her home country after she won a case and was subsequently kidnapped and almost killed. She said she has her certificate and a “yellow-paper” document from the T&T Immigration to be here, but is now afraid in the wake of Saturday’s repatriation exercise.

“The situation against Venezuelans here has worsened and I am afraid. Recently, I went to the beach and was taken by the police here but then they released me when they saw my documents,” she said.

“I just want the process to speed up here for us and for my people who are coming here for help. They should not be sent back to Venezuela because their lives are in danger.”

Another Venezuelan woman here in T&T said because of the worsening situation in T&T with regards to Venezuelans being locked up by the police and handed over to the Immigration officers to be placed at the Immigration Detention Centre or in prison, they have made contact with a non-governmental organisation in Venezuela who will be raising their issue and making the relevant reports to Amnesty International.

“We strongly believe that with Amnesty International’s intervention we will get the help that we desperately need,” the woman said.

Congress of the People (COP) leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan says the party is preparing to fight the next general election is all 41 constituencies. Speaking at a press conference as the new executive was installed a the St Augustine South Community Centre yesterday, she said the party was aware there was a lot of work to be done.

“As I have said over and over, it’s about connecting with the members of our party and rebuilding the trust and confidence in the COP,” Seepersad-Bachan said. She shot down detractors who have described the party as dead, saying this was far from the truth.

“I don’t understand how the COP could be dead in their minds and they are alive...they are alive with ideas in their minds of what the COP is supposed to be doing.

“If you listen to them, what we need to do, what we are not doing, where we are supposed to be going, we have been taking all those comments on board. So the mere idea that the COP continues to be mentioned over and over by the very same people who continue to say that we are dead is amazing, so I don’t really pay too much heed to that,” Seepersad-Bachan said.

She said while there were a lot of people who had expressed interest in the party, they firstly wanted a have a sense of its plans before joining or rejoining the COP. Saying the COP was formed within a space of less than a year, Seepersad-Bachan said the party was more than ready to fight 41 seats.

“I don’t see why we can’t be ready and willing to fight 41 seats. It all depends on what we do going forward as a party,” she added.

More importantly, she said it was critical to reach those who were disenchanted because they had felt a sense of disconnect.

“They felt they have been pushed out of the party and in reality there is a certain amount of credence to that claim that is made by many...that they were not listened to,” she said.

She agreed the party had been dormant for a while, following which it had reached its lowest point, but added it was time for revitalising and rebranding.

“We need to pick up the pieces and move forward. I don’t think people have ever lost confidence in the COP. I don’t think they have ever lost their passion for the COP. There is a nostalgia out there for the COP and there is this yearning that we come back together as one because they liked what the party stood for,” she said. “But their problem is whether we still stand along those lines and we saw some faces coming back to the party...those who were not here before and we have not even gone out on a membership drive as yet.”

A central businessman, his wife and two employees are expected to appear in the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court today charged with possession of firearms and ammunition.

The couple, of Chin Chin Road, Cunupia and the employees, from Arima and Piarco, were held at the man’s Chase Village chicken depot on Friday.

A report said around 2.30 pm, Central Division Task Force officers, including Cpl Maharaj, PC Beharry, Augustus, Goolie and Seecharan, received information and executed a search warrant at the depot. When officers checked under the counter it is alleged they found a loaded revolver with three rounds of .38 ammunition.

PC Beharry laid the charges.

Vivian Reese, believed to be the oldest woman in T&T, passed away peacefully at her home last Friday.

Reese, formerly Cowan, died at the age of 111 at her Tabaquite Road, Rio Claro home.

Reese’s great grandson David Cowan Jr told the T&T Guardian that she was in the company of her adopted son Lincoln and her caregiver at the time of her death. She was also surrounded by pictures of her family, Cowan Jr added.

He praised the T&T Guardian for recognising Reese through articles which marked her 100 birthday on December 9, 2006.

“Vivian lived a blessed life that has seen the nation grow from an era of no light, no roads, no auto-mobiles, vast fields of sugarcane and cocoa, and the might of British Imperial rule, to the technologically advanced, diverse, free and independent, developing nation that it is today,” Cowan Jr said yesterday.

“She lived a life that has been blessed to hear the true mother tongue of the now lost native tribes, and the joyous cry of newborn life, all of whom are gifted in love and pride as heirs to her ancestry by her beloved and cherished ‘one child’, the late Victor Cowan. We would like to thank the Trinidad Guardian for recognising our grandmother while she was alive.”

Reese is survived by grandchildren Carol McLeod, Jude Cowan, June Webb, Wrenrick Cowan and Dave Cowan, along with their spouses and the generations of great and great-great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised.

Pentecostal and evangelical churches are currently mobilising for a demonstration on May 11 against any amendment to this country’s buggery legislation.

On April 6, followers of the respective churches attempted to march through Port-of-Spain followed by a rally at Woodford Square, but were stopped in their tracks after police said no permission was given.

The evangelical bodies are disgruntled over Trinidad-born gay rights activist Jason Jones’ recent High Court victory on behalf of the LGBTQI community on April 12.

In his ruling on Jones’ lawsuit, High Court Judge Devindra Rampersad declared Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act, which criminalises buggery and serious indecency even between consenting adults, unconstitutional.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has indicated the State will challenge the decision.

But Pastor Kent Jacob, of the Covenant Life Transformation Ministries, has again voiced his displeasure on behalf of the churches throughout T&T with this process.

Saying it was important to consider the AG’s position as the defendant in the matter, Jacob said: “I am not a student of law, but as a layman I think it very strange that the defendant in the matter would be echoing, in a somewhat justifiable way, the same sentiments as the claimant that filed the case against him.

Jacob said he strongly believes from the ruling that Rampersad “had no alternative but to rule in the way that he did, since no evidence was presented by the defence.”

In his argument, Jacob referred to paragraph 15 of Rampersad’s ruling, where he stated: “It must be noted that there was no evidence in this matter from any party but the claimant.”

Jacob said it seemed the AG, in his stated intent to go as far as the Privy Council with the matter, has in fact stated an intent to push this legislation through the judicial process.

“We also have to understand what is meant by ‘treat with discrimination against homosexuality’. In other jurisdictions, that means that an individual no longer has the right to choose not to provide a service to someone identified as LGBTQI. In this regard, the State can enact legislation to violate my rights in order to facilitate the rights of the LGBTQI community. May the God help us!”

Former prime minister Basdeo Panday yesterday took to social media to deny fake reports that he was dead.

Responding to claikms he had died overnight, Panday, in a Facebook post, wrote: “I am alive and intend to be so until I die.”

His daughter Mickela also attempted to assure her father was alive and well in an update on her Facebook page.

She wrote: “There is cruel and vicious rumour being spread that our dad has passed away. Whilst we have become accustomed to fake news this is a new low. Please be assured that he is alive and kicking!”

A homeless man was yesterday stabbed to death by a security guard outside the KFC restaurant at Independence Square, Port-of-Spain, after he was earlier ordered out of the restaurant for allegedly making strange demands of staff and photographing them with his cellphone.

Moments later, his attacker surrendered to police who were at the scene looking for clues and interviewing witnesses. The deceased was identified as Jameel Douglas, 33, of no fixed place of address. Up until late yesterday evening, a 22-year-old Duncan Street, Port-of-Spain man remained in police custody.

Police said just before 10 am yesterday, a fight between the guard and Douglas erupted outside the establishment. Douglas was stabbed and collapsed on the road along Broadway in front of a vending cart. Eyewitnesses immediately notified the police.

Officers of the Homicide Bureau and Port-of-Spain CID and Task Force responded. The body was viewed by the district medical officer who ordered its removal to the Forensic Science Centre for an autopsy today.

A statement from KFC franchise holder Prestige Holdings last evening confirmed the incident, but denied reports which suggested he was seeking to use the bathroom or purchasing an item at the outlet. Rather, it said the outlet manager asked a guard to escort Douglas outside after he began making strange demands of staff and taking pictures of them with his phone. The company said the incident was unfortunate, offered condolences to the man’s family and said it was cooperating fully with the police.

Eyewitness told T&T Guardian Douglas and the guard had an argument outside and a fight started. He was stabbed during the scuffle.

By-standers gathered outside the restaurant after the area was cordoned off by the police. Soon afterwards, several of the employees were taken away in a police vehicle. Other workers seemed in good spirits and were seen smiling and chatting with each other.

When contacted yesterday, senior officers said a police officer or a security guard could not use a knife as a weapon while on duty.

“Even if he is a police officer or a security guard, a knife cannot be a tool of work, only if he is peeling orange, so he can’t be using a knife. The matter is under investigation and it will be dealt with accordingly,” the officer said.

Homicide officers are continuing investigations.

Amnesty International’s Americas director Erika Guevara Rosas has written to the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley criticising the way in which 82 Venezuelan nationals were repatriated to their home country on Saturday.

Rosas’ letter came one day after a non-governmental organisation in Venezuela said it was going to lodge an official report on behalf of the 82 Venezuelans who were repatriated and as international outcry over the act intensified.

In the letter, Rosas requested information about the procedures followed by the T&T Government in carrying out the deportation. She indicated that they have received information suggesting those returned did not do so voluntarily, contrary to National Security Minister Edmund Dillon’s claims. In fact, she said they received information the deportees were presented with papers to sign “in a language they do not understand, stating that they would return voluntarily.”

“As part of the Convention relating to the Status of the Refugees (1951 Refugee Convention) and its Protocol (1967), Trinidad and Tobago is obliged to fully protect the rights of those in need of international protection,” Rosas said in her letter.

“To do otherwise implies a breach of international law and it is regrettable that your Government has chosen to ignore its obligations in a way incompatible with international human rights standards.”

Among other things, she said the deportees were “forcibly returned without an individualised assessment or having the opportunity to challenge or appeal their deportation orders, without having their legal options explained to them in a language they understand and without access to their lawyers or UNHCR, the actions of your Government have undermined due process, your Government’s own policy on asylum, and your country’s international human rights obligations. This cannot be repeated.”

Rosas explained that mass deportations are prohibited under international law, as is the violation of the principles of non-refoulement, confidentiality, non-penalisation and the right to due process and judicial protection.

She disclosed that based on the information Amnesty International received, it appeared the T&T Government chose to ignore each one of these key protection principles.

“Questions remain as to why a government that should protect refugees and asylum seekers as part of its international obligations offered confidential information to the Venezuelan authorities, and deported asylum seekers with open refugee claims back to their country where they may face torture or other grave human rights violations,” Rosas told Rowley.

“Trinidad and Tobago must guarantee the rights of the growing number of asylum seekers and refugees from Venezuela in need of international protection, whose hope for survival are increasingly in countries such as yours. To fail to do so is to ignore your country’s commitment and international obligations to protecting human rights.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Türk yesterday also expressed deep regret over the deportations. He described sending back those who applied for refugee status as a “breach of international refugee law.” He also said some of them were deported from T&T despite the UNHCR’s request for access to them concerned and written interventions.

“The forced return of this group is of great concern,” Türk said.

“UNHCR calls on Trinidad and Tobago to continue to abide by its international obligations as signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention and other applicable international instruments that are incorporated into its official Refugee Policy, in particular the principle of non-return, known as non-refoulement, and Article 31 of the Convention which requests signatories “not to impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence” to people who are in need of international protection.”

UN Resident Co-ordinator Richard Blewitt meanwhile called on Government to speed up work on the asylum/refugee policy he said has been at the Attorney General’s (AG) office for the past 12 months.

“The Government has worked on the policy quite diligently and in the last 12 months. It is now at the AG’s office and the final draft is almost ready to go to Parliament and I will urge the Government to take this moment to put this legislation in place. The Opposition must support it,” Blewitt said.

The Ministry of National Security remains adamant that Saturday’s repatriation was done “voluntarily,” as none of the Venezuelan nationals expressed fear or objection.

The ministry defended its actions in a release yesterday, saying Government has a right to repatriate any foreign national found to be in breach of the laws of T&T and adding it will take the necessary steps to ensure such repatriation.

It said the Government and the government of Venezuela have been engaged in discussions “to reduce the length of detention for those Venezuelan nationals in breach of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago and to repatriate them to their homeland as soon as practicable.”

These discussions followed claims by Chief Immigration Officer Charmaine Ghandi-Andrews, at a Joint Select Committee of Parliament on April 6, that 89 Venezuelan nationals were detained for various offences at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC), the ministry said.

“Officials from the Venezuelan Embassy visited the nationals detained at the IDC on Friday April 13 to ascertain their well-being and identify their needs for repatriation. Subsequently, at the request of the Venezuelan Ambassador, a meeting was held between the Ministry of National Security and the Venezuelan Embassy on Tuesday April 17 to discuss the situation.”

It said Venezuelan Ambassador Coromondo Godoy subsequently revealed her fellow nationals expressed a desire to return to Venezuela and assured them the Venezuela government would do everything possible to assist them in returning home. The release added that Dillon in turn assured they would work with the Embassy to facilitate the repatriation.

As a result on this agreement, Dillon said on Friday, at the request of the Venezuelan Embassy, the Immigration Division gave all Venezuelan nationals in detention an opportunity to go to their embassy to obtain travel documents to return to Venezuela. It said 102 persons were transported to the embassy. However, of this group, 19 could not be repatriated as warrants had been issued for them to serve varying terms of imprisonment in T&T after being convicted for various offences.

It said a diplomatic note was sent to the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs seeking permission to land a Venezuelan aircraft to specifically repatriate its citizens detained at the IDC and on Saturday, 82 Venezuelan nationals (53 men and 29 women) voluntarily left the IDC to be repatriated to their homeland.

The ministry said at the Piarco International Airport each person was asked if they had any fear or objection to returning to their homeland.

“All stated that they wanted to leave. Each signed the necessary documents for their departure before being handed their travel document by Immigration Officers and having their personal property checked by Customs officials.

“Prior to boarding the aircraft, each individual was again asked by a different set of officials if they had any fear of returning to their homeland; each again responded in the negative and willingly boarded a bus with their belongings to be taken to the aircraft. No one was forced or coerced to leave the IDC, board the bus or the aircraft. The entire exercise was recorded by the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard.”

It also said the Immigration Division had received reports that foreign nationals have been entering the country and are being required to pay a fee to facilitate a claim for asylum, although they are not entering the country as refugees. It said an investigation has been launched into this matter.

If no suitable operator is found for the Couva Hospital by the end of this month, it will be incorporated into T&T’s national health care system as the country’s first paying health care institution, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley told members of the T&T Diaspora yesterday.

Addressing nationals on his last day in London following the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, Rowley said T&T was embarking on a new thrust in health tourism.

Rowley said the Couva Hospital will offer state-of-the art health care once it is opened and unlike other national health institutions - it will charge a fee to patients.

“We are trying to enter the area of health and health tourism. Suffice to say, I have given Parliament the assurance that we have until the end of this month to get Requests For Proposals for the Couva Hospital and if we do not get a suitable operator we will give that hospital into the national health care system,” Rowley said during the event, which was streamed live from the Office of the Prime Minister’s Facebook page.

The hospital, which was one of the People’s Partnership’s flagship projects, was promoted by the former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as the avenue to boost health tourism in T&T.

Saying his Government was committed to boosting health tourism yesterday, Rowley said, “We are in the process of creating a new model of health care. In support of what we have now, we will also be offering cutting edge technology for the people of T&T and elsewhere to access the services at the Couva Hospital for a fee of course.”

He told the audience they too could give back to their homeland by providing services to the hospital.

Last Friday, Rowley invited India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer opportunities to health care professionals to contribute to training at the Couva Hospital by teaching traditional Indian medicine, which is over 3,000 years old. Modi pledged to offer assistance in the areas of information communication technology (ICT), energy and pharmaceuticals. Rowley also offered opportunities to India in the areas of tourism, health care and agriculture. He also requested aviation training for local helicopter pilots as well as direct air transport.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said: “Our investment into health care was premised on using the health care sector for health tourism and as a serious revenue generating sector for foreign exchange. This is why we expanded the San Fernando Teaching Hospital and completed the Couva Hospital. What Dr Rowley speaks about is nothing new as we have been talking about this for three years now, while the hospital is overrun with carailli vine and there are snakes, scorpions and centipedes inside,” Moonilal said, adding they were getting information the SFTH and Couva Hospital were being stripped of equipment and furniture.

He also called on Rowley to say whether they are in discussions with the Canadian government to lease the Couva Hospital to the discredited SNC Lavalin, a Canadian firm embroiled in corruption, bid rigging and bribery allegations. The United National Congress had cut ties with SNC Lavalin in 2013 after the T&T Guardian exclusively broke the story involving the tainted company and its ties to the UNC in the proposed construction of the Penal hospital and rehabilitation centre.

A call is being made for a fire station to be built in Cedros, after a house fire left a couple and their three children homeless yesterday.

Johnny Lalloo, 41, a self-employed construction worker, his wife Natasha Paul, 37, and their children Jessica, 14, Narine, 10 and Natasha, five, spent last night at a neighbour’s house following the incident.

Lalloo said that around 4.10 pm, about five minutes after they left their St Marie Village home to go for a drive, someone called to say their house was on fire. He said when they got back their concrete and wooden house was completely engulfed in flames.

“We lost everything. The councillor help us out with mattresses but we have nothing,” he said.

Lalloo had no idea what caused the fire and estimated his losses to be approximately $175,000.

Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh described the situation as sad. He said it took fire-fighters based at the Point Fortin Fire Station about an hour and 15 minutes to arrive on the scene.

“We have been calling for a fire station in Cedros for a long time. We have asked the National Security Minister, who is the MP, to establish a station here.”

He said the fire took place about four buildings away from a gas station and had the fire spread the situation could have been worse. He said there was land available in Cedros but if money is an issue he suggested assigning a fire tender, ambulance and the necessary manpower at the Cedros Security Complex, where the Coast Guard and the police station are housed. Anyone wishing to assist the family can call 274 2476 or 296 8288.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday urged T&T nationals in the United Kingdom to return home and help fight crime by sharing their experiences and expertise.

He made the appeal while addressing members of the T&T diaspora in London yesterday, as he expressed disappointment that none of them had applied for the post of Commissioner of Police when it was advertised internationally.

Lamenting that T&T has not had a confirmed CoP for almost five years although crime was a major setback facing the country, the PM said: “T&T is at the gateway to the world where drugs, guns and ammunition comes in. International cooperation is needed. We cannot change our location.”

He added, “We were hoping that when the advertisement came out, we were sure that there were nationals somewhere who served in the British police service that at least one of you would have applied for commissioner or if not as a deputy.”

He lamented, “We are still in a situation where we are not able to get distinguished leadership that could rise through the ranks (of the TTPS) and take charge of the men to respond to the criminal element. It is a problem that we hope will not last for much longer.”

Rowley also said that T&T nationals are heavily dependent on subsidies and while the gas subsidy was removed, nationals are still enjoying subsidies on water and electricity.

“Even though we have taken away the subsidy of gasoline and diesel, we are still managing to travel around the country without it being a burden. There is an increase in products but from an individual level it has reduced waste.

“At home we grew up on subsidies. Water and electricity are heavily subsidised and the welfare programme is fourth largest in the budget. Yet in face of that, people will still tell you ‘I don’t get nothing from government,’” he said as the audience laughed.

Rowley also told the audience about the launch of two new entities to market Trinidad and Tobago tourism separately.

“Under the control of the Tobago House of Assembly, which has executive authority for Tobago, we have created a tourism entity which can market Tobago tourism under the THA. In Trinidad, we have Carnival and Divali and there is the Trinidad tourism entity which we are a little slow in getting going. We are marketing T&T tourism separately,” Rowley said.

He also said Government had taken the decision not to devalue the T&T dollar.

“If you devalue the currency you get more T&T dollars and we can pay for debts, but after consultation we took the decision not to devalue the dollar on a sudden basis but to defend the currency up to $6.85,” he said.

Despite the economic turmoil, Rowley boasted that his Government had not cut public service jobs and has been working on cutting back the budget deficit. He said when he returns to T&T today, Government will prepare to engage in a mid-year budget review.

But in an immediate response to Rowley’s address, Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said, “The comic irony of Dr Rowley’s statements is that the reasons Trinidad citizens will not come back to T&T to help fight crime is because of crime and the economic downturn. Who will come here when they could be robbed or killed, when there is no apparent prospects in the business community, when the economy is on a decline? Residents will not return unless they see signs of hope in the economy and in the area of security.”

Ministry of Planning and Development officials have met with devotees of the Shri Nav Durga Kali Ashram Temple at South Oropouche in an attempt to rectify the issues surrounding breaches in construction being carried out on the site.

One of the main breaches is a three-storey building currently under construction. This is why Minister of Planning and Development Camille Robinson-Regis okayed enforcement action and the respective notices were served on April 3.

On April 12, however, temple devotees staged a protest over what they claimed was Government’s plan to demolish the temple, which they believed was earmarked for demolition.

Last Friday, however, following a request from Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Town and Country Planning Division (TCPD) officials and Shri Nav Durga Kali Ashram representatives met to discuss the issue.

In the meeting, it was disclosed that it was the additional structure being erected without the benefit of Planning permission that was the subject of the enforcement and not the temple.

The Ashram’s representatives were told the extensions were “illegal and constituted an egregious breach of the Town and Country Planning regulations.”

During the discussion, it was agreed that another site visit would be made by Town and Country officials to reinforce the adjustments which need to be made to the structure to facilitate compliance with the law. A devotee confirmed to the T&T Guardian that the site visit is confirmed for this week and an investigation has been launched by the ministry.

The T&T Guardian was told the construction continued unabated despite the issuance of a letter of advice and the refusal of planning permission for the work being carried out between 2016 to the present.

The extensions on the compound started two years ago but the TCPD had received a complaint from a member of the public against new development being undertaken on the site since January 16, 2014.

A letter of advice dated January 14, 2016 was issued to Pundit Larry Hasmatally, one of the owners of the temple and the TCPD advised him to submit a plan.

But an application submitted by the temple owners to the TCPD on April 4, 2016, was denied planning permission on April 13, 2016.

In a release issued by the ministry over the weekend, the PS and officers reiterated that “there is no intention to hamper the religious well-being of the representatives nor the persons whom they assist.”

The temple representatives have also been advised to apply for an extension of the enforcement notice whilst discussions continue.

It was disclosed that the building in question is a public building which subjects the property to a number of specific requirements, including 40 per cent coverage, building line setback distances and no approval for the structural details of all of the buildings constructed.

The enforcement notice is against a three-storey structure which has not been in existence for 40 years, as being claimed by the developers, the ministry said.

It added that there is no grant of planning permission for construction of the following: a sub-basement; basement and ground floor at road level.

Additionally, it said there are no car-parking facilities to service the development existing on the site and part of the structure is constructed over a drain reserve.

Single and unemployed, it has now been two weeks since Deomatie Baal and her 11-month-old daughter Angelica Ramadhin were left homeless by a fire that ravaged their humble home along Wilson Road, Penal.

It’s now a daily struggle for Baal, 24, to ensure Angelica sleeps in the safety and comfort of a home, so the mother begs for refuge at church members’ homes. But with time running out, Baal fears she may soon lose Angelica if she does not find a place to live soon.

Angelica will celebrate her first birthday on May 2 and while Baal would have preferred to celebrate it with cake and ice cream, the struggle to find a home is her priority.

During a visit with her mother to the T&T Guardian’s south office, Angelica cheerfully mingled with office staff, oblivious to the struggle.

“I’ve lost my home, I can’t lose my daughter too. Right now I’m staying by different people at different times,” Baal said.

On the night of the fire, Baal said she and Angelica were at her parents’ home in Penal. Around 10.30 pm on April 9, a fire officer called with the heart-breaking news that her home was gone.

“I couldn’t do anything because I was in a state of shock. Then I just started crying and screaming because I didn’t know what to do.”

Hoping the officers had made a mistake she contacted relatives, who went to check the house and confirmed the bad news. Frozen with the fear of an uncertain future, Baal said she did not return home until the Tuesday morning.

“Everything was burnt down to the ground. There was only burnt wood, window frames and the metal from the appliances I just bought. Do you know how hard it is to spend so much money to purchase appliances and after five months, it is gone?”

Baal said she had worked at the Prize Band Variety Store in Debe until she got pregnant with Angelica. However, Angelica’s father left after she was born, leaving her to take care of the baby on her own. Without a job, she cannot afford daycare as of now. She explained that the house she had lived for the past six years was without electricity until last year. From the money she saved while working, she purchased appliances to make life easier for her new family. However, it is all gone.

Baal said she has approached the Ministry of Social Development but was told she was a squatter on the land. She has since visited the National Commission for Self Help and was given a list of documents she needed to access a grant. However, one of the requirements was a deed of comfort. She said without a deed she can’t access any government grants to rebuild her home

“They asked if I had ever applied to get the land and I told them yes, but everything was burnt in the house. I went back to the Land Settlement Agency, but the receptionist told me that the Land for the Landless programme had ended.

“She told me to write a letter to someone to see if I can get a deed of comfort so I can go back to Self Help to get it from there. I don’t know if I will get the deed because when I went there was some debate as to whether it was State land or forest reserve,” Baal said.

On October 10, Government terminated the Land For The Landless (LFTL) programme, which was created under the People’s Partnership. Former housing and urban development minister Randall Mitchell had told the Parliament of several flaws in the programmes, which included beneficiaries signing agreements for land without deposits. The LFTF was replaced by the Aided Self-Help Housing Programme, which is geared to assisting low/middle-income earners with the construction of their own homes by providing financial and technical support from the state.

Good news for T&T’s Muslim pilgrims. Mecca, Medina and other Saudi Arabian places where Muslims worship won’t be among “declared geographical” locations which travellers will have to notify authorities about under proposed anti-terrorism law.

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi confirmed this yesterday as a Parliamentary committee examined proposed clauses of the anti-terrorism bill to be brought before Parliament. The committee heard views from the T&T Police Service, the Concerned Muslims of T&T (CMTT) (involving various groups) and Muslim Roundtable (including long-standing Muslim organisations).

Al-Rawi sought to clarify concerns on the bill which arose, particularly from CMTT, on Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages in the Middle East. One clause of the bill allows the National Security Minister to designate certain areas—where listed entities engage in hostile activities— as “declared geographical areas.” Travellers to those places will have to notify the Police Commissioner of their plans.

CMTT representatives, including attorney Criston Williams, and PRO Imtiaz Mohammed expressed concern about annual travels by T&T Muslim pilgrims, many elderly.

CMTT estimated 300 people attend Hajj annually, plus 300 for Umrah, in Dubai and Jerusalem also.

There are four tour operators, all with different arrangements.

This year one operator proposed using a plane via Africa to reach Saudi Arabia. There are 25 to 50 Islamic students in Saudia Arabia, Egypt, and Africa plus T&T nationals who return to lecture in local jamaats for Ramadan. Apart from assurance on Saudi Arabia, Mecca and Medina travel, Al-Rawi said National Security will designate zones based on information. He noted, for instance, videos of T&T’s Shane Crawford in Syria boasting of his Islamic State links.

Al-Rawi said there are many T&T citizens with family in war-torn places including Syria, Damascus, Baghdad, “...myself included,” he added. His father is Iraqi. Many of T&T’s Arab community also have family in the Middle East but made no submissions on the bill, he added.

Rather than being a “sword,” Al-Rawi said the bill was a “shield” for T&T nationals. He noted a number of citizens have had visas revoked, put on no-fly lists and seen their zakat and financial contributions run afoul of other countries’ systems.

He said once people notified the CoP of travel to declared zones, T&T would have a record of their travel to show. “The minute they give reasons, that’s the end of the story,” he said.

There will be no penalty for failing to give the CoP notification.

Notification will be written—but there’s no requirement to give financial information. Al-Rawi dispelled fears returning pilgrims might be arrested on arrival at Piarco Airport. On CMTT concerns that reference in the bill to Isis/ Da’esh and Al Qaeda would infer Muslims were targetted in clauses, Al-Rawi said the Government does not see those two groups as Muslim or representing them. “They are haram (Arabic for forbidden),” he added.

Al-Rawi said Government did not want the international world to think T&T citizens saw Isis as Muslim.

He said the Bill was to treat with terrorism and did not target Muslims.

“All eyes are on us—me and you.

We don’t want to cause concern to anyone in the world that Isis/ Da’esh and Al Qaeda are representative of Islam,” he said.

Investigation of terrorism is one of the most difficult types of probes confronting the T&T Police Service (TTPS) right now, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams said yesterday.

Williams was among TTPS officials appearing before a Parliamentary Joint Select Committee examining amendments to the anti-terrorism law.

Williams said the police get “licks” all the time on issues. But he said a new police unit, focussing on terrorism, is being developed and trained “as we speak.”

Among TTPS recommendations for the proposed law, acting Inspector Kazim Ali, of the Legal Unit, said the amendments must be more specific as the proposed bill was very wide. He said all references to “terrorist act” must be concise and comprehensive or matters could go awry in court.

Ali recommended a special designation of “offensive weapons” - not just “weapons”- and that this include fertilisers, nails and other home-made apparatus as other countries have in their anti-terrorism laws.

Acting ASP Kerwin Francis, of the Organised Crime and Intelligence Unit, recommended the bill be strong enough for a “stand-alone offence” to allow police to arrest someone - even if lacking evidence - on the basis that possessions they have, show they were about to instigate a terrorist act.

If a person claimed they had fertiliser, for instance, for gardening, police would then use a detailed comprehensive system to track if this is true via purchases and other patterns and establishing agricultural sector bona fides.

Francis recommended a penalty if people fail to conform to a proposed amendment that they notify the National Security Ministry when travelling to geographical areas which will be restricted by the state.

Francis suggested police be empowered to ask a judge -based on credible evidence- to prevent people from leaving T&T to go to restricted zones especially if they are subject to legal proceedings.

A 20-year-old Arima man has appeared in court charged with shooting at two off-duty police officers in an incident in Tobago last year.

Tyrell McKenzie, of Fort Street, Tumpuna Road, Arima, appeared in the Scarborough Magistrate’s Court charged with shooting with intent and possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

McKenzie is the second person charged over the incident, which occurred on August 30 last year. Kerwin Wilson, 35, of Virgil Alley, Calder Hall, was also charged with similar offences one month after the incident.

According to reports, the officers were driving through Lambeau when a man got out of a Nissan Tiida, which was parked at the side of the road, and began shooting at them. They returned fire but the gunman returned to the vehicle and drove away. The bullet-riddled Tiida, which contained traces of the blood of one of the suspects, was later found abandoned along Tank Road, Signal Hill.

Wilson was arrested shortly after the incident while McKenzie was only arrested last Tuesday.

McKenzie was charged by Sgt Alicia Piggott of the Scarborough CID.

Mechanic on $30,000 bail in fraud case

A 32-year-old mechanic from Curepe has been granted $30,000 bail after appearing in court charged with defrauding a 72-year-old pensioner.

Joel Stanisclaus, of Alice Street, Curepe, appeared before Magistrate Marissa Gomez in the Tunapuna Magistrate’s Court last Thursday, charged with fraudulent conversion.

The offence is alleged to have occurred on February 10 last year after the victim, a retiree from Moriah, Tobago, deposited $9,000 into his account for repairs to a car engine. The work was not done and the money was not returned.

Vowing to protect their temple with their lives, devotees from the Shri Nav Durga Kali Ashram yesterday vowed to mount a legal challenge to stop the State from demolishing any part of their ashram.

This after a high-powered team from the Ministry of Planning and Development and Town and Country Planning Division officials visited the mandir at St Mary’s Village, South Oropouche, yesterday.

The officials took measurements of the structure which is the source of contention, having been built without approvals from Town and Country Planning.

In an interview afterwards, Pundit Larry Hasmatally said the visit was surprising, adding he was appalled when officials ordered him to remove sacred murties (statues) from the site.

“It is disrespectful. Obviously none of them are Hindus, as they do not know once prayers are infused you cannot move the murties,” Hasmatally said, adding that state team spent half an hour in the compound.

Having already spoken to his attorneys, Hasmatally said they were prepared to file an injunction to stop any forced demolition of the structure.

“It is hurtful that after so many years of work, the Government is forcing me to tear down my beloved temple,” Hasmatally said.

He said the adjoining structure, one of the structures which the TCPD initially received complaints about in 2014, is used as a home for displaced children and victims of domestic violence.

“Many people have sought refuge at this mandir. We have hundreds of accounts from people who can tell you how this mandir changed their lives. We have been existing for over 60 years. Why does the Government want to tear us down instead of supporting the good work that we do?” Hasmatally said.

He admitted that the building did not have the approvals, but noted that most of the structures in South Oropouche also did not have building approvals.

“Am I the only one who is going to be targeted?” Hasmatally asked.

He also denied that temple and adjoining structure was built on a road reserve.

“We are 21 feet away from the road reserve,” he said.

During the tour, members of the state team tried to stop CNC3 cameraman Ivan Toolsie from taking video footage of their visit.

Councillor for Avocat/San Francique Doodnath Mayrhoo questioned whether the Government would be seeking to demolish houses in Sea Lots which were built two feet away from each other.

“Many houses are built without planning approvals. There is a church in Port-of-Spain which is encroaching on the road. Are they going to break that down too?” Mayrhoo asked.

In a statement on the issue, Minister of Planning Camille Robinson-Regis reiterated that the temple was not being targeted for demolition. She said Chapter 35:01 of the Town and Country Planning Act states that permission is required under part three section 8 (1) of the act for any development of land that is carried out after the commencement of this act in August 1969. She added that section 8 (2) of the act describes development as the undertaking of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under any land; the making of any material change to the use of any buildings or other land; or the sub-division of any land.

In a previous statement, Robinson-Regis said because of egregious breaches carried out on the site she had agreed to enforcement action and enforcement notices were served by registered mail on April 3, 2018.

Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon and Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi yesterday met with the United Nations Resident Coordinator Richard Blewitt and Protection Officer of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruben Barbado, over last Saturday’s repatriation of 82 Venezuelans.The meeting, held at the ministry’s Port-of-Spain head office, was also attended by Permanent Secretary Vel Lewis and Chief Immigration Officer Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews.In a release afterwards, the ministry said Dillon and Al-Rawi held the meeting to “correct the misinformation in the public domain” over Government’s handling of the voluntary repatriation of the Venezuelans. The release noted that Dillon and Al-Rawi pointed out that the T&T Government respects the human rights of any person who seeks asylum here and respects the right of any foreign national to voluntarily return to their country of nationality. It was also reiterated in the meeting that the repatriation exercise was strictly carried out on a voluntary basis in collaboration with Venezuelan Ambassador Coromoto Godoy.“The Government of Trinidad and Tobago also expressed its commitment to treating all persons humanely and fairly and to upholding its international obligations. At the end of the very cordial meeting, both parties agreed to continue the ethos of collaboration and cooperation. The Government remains cognizant of its responsibility to look after the national security interests of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,” the release added.Efforts to reach Godoy for comment yesterday were unsuccessful as calls to her cellphone either went unanswered or straight to voice-mail.

Meanwhile, a Venezuelan resident group here in T&T says their community has been severely traumatised by Saturday’s repatriation exercise, as it seems as though the T&T Government was now very supportive of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.Speaking under strict anonymity, however, a group member said they had warned the T&T Government about the influx of Venezuelans years ago.

“Venezuelans are good people that love to work and presently you have many professionals that T&T needs, I think that with sincere cohabitation with NGOs and the Government, this situation of persecution can be avoided. T&T must understand that there are commitments signed with the UN and in this critical moment most honour those agreements,” he said.

He according to information reaching them, the exercise was “no voluntary one” as claimed by the Ministry of National Security.“Most of them I understand were in possession of their asylum certificates and/or have started the process. We are scared as the T&T Government seems to be given the Maduro regime the rights to persecute Venezuelans out of their own country. This is alarming,” the Venezuelan resident said.Godoy also came under fire by Venezuelan nationals resident here in T&T.They alleged the Embassy provides “no assistance whatsoever to Venezuelans in Trinidad and Tobago.”